Deliver me from evil
by Pixie photos
Summary: When the Winchester brothers and their friend, Anna, come into the prison with the other survivors from Woodbury they not only bring a new dynamic to the group but they also bring along something else. Something far, far worse than even the walkers themselves. Can the group hold strong when Hell itself is reigning down around them? (love triangle *OFC* Anna X Dean & Anna X Daryl)
1. Can't you hear them?

Authors note: So, I haven't written anything for a while as I have been working on my own book, so hopefully this doesn't turn out too badly. Let me know what you think as I go and thanks for reading!

**Chapter 1**

Dean was weary. They were all weary, it had been a long and arduous trip, the entire end of world thing was getting old and as he turned around to see his little brother helping an exhausted looking woman down off the bus and onto the tarmac he realised just how much of a toll this was taking on them as well. The boys had known Anna for as long as they could remember, she had been like a little sister to them and it upset Dean to see her in so much pain. The knife wound on her leg was healing but not nearly as fast as they needed. The three of them had rolled into Woodbury a matter of hours before the bus load of people was shipped out to this prison and told they would be taken care of. Sam helped their friend along the road slowly, her face set in a tight grimace as she concentrated on not putting full weight on her leg.

"This place feels off," Sam whispered under his breath as Dean grabbed Anna's free arm and placed it over his shoulder, helping her keep the weight off her leg a little easier. Sam stood at an easy six foot four and Dean at a respectable six foot one which meant that when the two of them stood up Anna's tiny five foot six, lean, hundred and thirty pound frame was lifted off the ground easily enough so that all she had to do was worry about hoping along on one leg and keeping herself from passing out from pain.

"What's her problem?" the three of them stopped at the barked question and looked up to see a rather dishevelled looking man in front of them. His shaggy hair and sullied clothing made him look all the more manic and aggressive than he really was.

Dean did a double take, weighing up the man before him carefully, before hissing; "she wasn't bitten if that's what you're thinking."

His brother gave him a warning glance from beside him whilst Anna's eyes stayed firmly planted in front of her, the pain in her leg growing worse with every waking second they stood there. Now was not the ideal time for them to be arguing with people, they needed to get somewhere to rest and recover before they had to keep moving.

"I'm sorry Sir," Sam slowly removed Anna's arm from around his neck, carefully helping her put her full weight against Dean before extending his hand out to the man, "I'm Sam, this is my brother Dean and our friend Anna. You'll have to excuse my brother here, we've been through a lot and we are just looking for somewhere to stay while our friend gets better."

The man in front of him looked him up and down a little, his hazy blue eyes weighing up the three new comers before taking Sam's extended hand and shaking it firmly, "I'm Rick, sorry to be so abrupt, we just can't take any chances with having an infected person here."

Dean's eyes narrowed as he tucked his arm around Anna's waist tightly, "what exactly do you take us for?"

Sam closed his eyes for a second wishing that for once his brother could just be quiet and not bite. Dean had been the same all the way through their childhood, he couldn't help it, he was protective of the people he cared about most and at that moment in time there was someone standing in the way of getting his loved ones to safety.

Rick's eyes narrowed as he stepped passed Sam and over to where the two were standing together, he had a duty to keep his group safe, he was the one that had to protect them from that virus, protect them from becoming walkers themselves and if that meant culling some people to save the rest then that was what he would do.

"Not many people are familiar with these things, they don't know what a bite can do, how quickly it can turn someone. What it changes them into, I cannot afford to take chances by bringing someone in here that could kill the rest of these people," he hated playing the asshole but these people had no idea what he had seen in his journey to get this far. They had no idea what he had had to do, what he had to sacrifice to keep this group safe. He was about to say something more when the young woman gave a pained laugh, her golden brown irises rising up to meet his murky blue ones.

"It's a knife wound Sir," she winced a little and looked down at the floor, adjusting her weight against Dean's body, "just a knife wound, I swear. I can understand your concern, I completely get where it is you are coming from but please do not underestimate our understanding of what these things can do."

Her eyes trailed up Rick's dishevelled clothing to meet his unwaveringly stern expression, "we have seen more than you know, and I'm not just talking about zombies either. If this was anything other than a knife wound, I wouldn't be standing in front of you right now. I can assure you of that."

There was a tense moment that passed between them, Rick's eyes were still locked with Anna's, and there was something in the way she was speaking that seemed to resonate with him. He had been there before, that desperation that came with wanting nothing more than to protect those that were close to you, that almost primal instinct to destroy anything that posed even the slightest threat. It was for that reason and that reason alone that he stepped aside and nodded to the door. He wasn't sold on these people entirely but he was sure that they were telling the truth and that had to count for something in this world.

The three of them had barely any clothing, barely any personal effects at all. The only thing that they carried in bulk was their weapons and even then it was the bare essentials; salt, silver, rope, chalk and paint and the precious few guns and knives they needed. Dean helped Anna stagger slowly towards the door, as he got to the entrance though a slightly older woman with short cropped grey hair appeared with a concerned look on her face. She cast a quick glance over at Rick who nodded his approval and she automatically grabbed Anna's free arm, helping her up over the threshold of the prison entrance.

"I'm Carol," she said once they were inside, a smile passing over her lips, "come on, we have a doctor here, he can help."

Anna was promptly taken over to one of the cells and carefully lowered down onto one of the beds, her face still contorted in pain as she lay back against the mattress. Dean took a seat on the trundle bed opposite her; he wasn't too keen on leaving her alone at that point not at least until he knew he could trust them. Sam had waited a while with Anna and Dean before deciding to go out into the prison yard to help the others unload the supplies from the bus. He hated sitting around while there was work to be done. That was just Sam all over; even if he wasn't entirely sure he could trust people he would still help. Dean on the other hand was far more subdued; he wanted to make absolutely sure that Anna was safe before he helped these people. It was for that reason that he waited until she was asleep before heading out into the yard to help the others.

The two brothers were so caught up in helping out with the supplies that they didn't notice when an elderly man hobbled into Anna's room. He was a tall man with a wisp of greyish white hair pulled back into a pony tail. When Dean spotted him hobbling into the room he followed after him almost instantly, the first thing he noted was the man's missing foot as well as the rather weathered looking crutches he was using for support. In one hand dangled a small tattered looking bag that Dean couldn't help but stare at. Sam came in behind his brother and stopped instantly, his eyes taking in the scene before him, waiting for his brother or someone else to make the first move. Luckily for them the man had heard them come in and as he set his bag down on the ground by her bed he turned to face them directly.

"Gentlemen," the man drawled, his southern accent extremely pronounced, "My name is Hershel, please to meet you."

He shook both of the boys' hands before turning to face Anna again, his eyes falling on the dirty make shift tourniquet around Anna's leg.

"I take it you're the doc then?" Dean asked coming to stand next to Hershel, his green eyes weighing up the man before him. He didn't seem like any kind of threat, but then again, Dean didn't want to go giving anyone too much credit just yet.

Hershel gave him a weak smile and nodded, "I guess you can say that.

"Pleased to meet you Hershel," Sam leaned against the door frame and looked over at Anna, "I'm Sam, that's my brother Dean and this is our friend Anna."

The man nodded in understanding and looked down at the tourniquet on Anna's leg, "Carol said she was having some trouble putting weight on her leg, that right? What happened exactly?"

The two boys exchanged a look before Dean spoke, "we got pinned down and this slimy mother fucker managed to slice his blade across her leg. She hasn't been great on it, she can put a little weight on it but anything more intense than a slow walk puts her into sheer agony."

Hershel's grey eyes took in the two boys in the doorway, the pain and concern was evident in not just their voices but their faces and their body language as well.

"Let's have a look at it then," he said turning back to his patient and carefully removing the tourniquet from her leg. Almost instantly Anna's eyes flew open and she let out a loud groan as the pressure was released from her wound and blood was allowed to flow freely to that area once more.

"Luckily it isn't too deep," Hershel said gently as he examined her leg a little closer, "how long ago did this happen?"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, Sam answering the question, "A few days."

Hershel nodded his head as he slid a fresh bandage from his bag along with a needle and thread, some alcohol wipes, a bottle of water and a clean swab.

"It doesn't look infected which is good," he said as he poured a dash of water on the wound to clean it and swabbed it with one of the alcohol wipes, immediately eliciting a pain filled hiss from Anna as the liquid burned into her leg. Sam knelt down beside her, his hand wrapping around hers as she squeezed her eyes closed and gripped his had tightly. Dean's eyebrows were set in a deep concentrated scowl, his arms still folded tightly over his chest as Hershel went about cleaning his friend's wound and stitching it back together. He waited patiently as the man placed a clean bandage over the top over the gash, checked her pulse, gave her some medication then gathered up his equipment and turned for the door.

"Make sure she has plenty of water and rest, if she goes moving around on it too soon she may rip the stitches," he said as he hobbled out of the room passed Dean. Sam was still kneeling next to Anna, his hand resting in hers quite comfortably as she slowly slipped off into a restless sleep.

_They're coming for you Anna. Can't you hear them? Can't you hear the screams? They know where you are, they know what you are. You can't hide from this Anna. You're going to burn down here!_

Anna's eyes flew open; a piercing scream ripping through the air as she sat bolt upright the thin swirling black line of ink racing up the side of her bare leg as she all but tore at her own skin, desperately scratching at the thin material of her shorts and tank top as if she were trying to rip them off.  
"ANNA!" the last thing she saw was the pointed tip of a bolt aimed right at her head before everything went completely black.


	2. No one

Authors note: thanks to everyone that has started reading and following this. As always comments and reviews are always appreciated! Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 2 **

"Back off, redneck!" Dean was standing in the doorway with his gun pointed directly at the man wielding the crossbow.

"Fuck you," he spat back, his eyes flicking between the convulsing body of the girl on the bed and the new comer before him, "if she's turnin' then we need to get rid of her. I ain't riskin' no one's life here because y'all can't do what needs to be done."

Dean glanced over his shoulder at his little brother, "Sammy, what's going on?"

Sam had managed to calm Anna down, her body finally coming to rest limply on the mattress as he checked her pulse, "I don't know Dean! She's burning up and her heart is beating a hundred miles a minute."

The fear and confusion in his brother's voice was enough to make Dean drop the gun down to his side and hit the floor by Anna's bed. Sam was right, she was completely soaked in sweat and her breathing was fast and heavy, the one thing that Dean did notice though was the thin pulsing black line that snaked its way up from her thigh and disappeared beneath her clothes. He placed the back of his hand against her forehead, his eyes narrowing as the heat instantly warmed his hand.

"I need a towel or something with cold water on it," the eldest Winchester looked up at the huddle of people that had gathered around the doorway, "NOW dammit!"

Someone scurried off and returned moments later with a dripping cloth, it was dirty as all hell and looked like it was caked in blood but it didn't matter, they needed to cool her down before she completely overheated and did some serious damage. Dean grabbed the cloth and placed it to her forehead instantly, the water trickling down the side and seeping into her silky brown hair.

There was a tense silence that followed as the two boys stayed kneeling on the concrete floor by Anna's bed desperately trying to get her body temperature down to a normal level. Dean kept having to turn the cloth over on her forehead because the heat she was emanating was starting to warm the cloth itself. He alternated moving it from her head to her neck and along her collar bone until finally her breathing started to even out and her heart beat slowed down somewhat. Dean's eyes flickered down to the bandage on Anna's leg, focusing on the thin line that had appeared earlier. In that same split second that line slowly began to fade, becoming a lighter shade of grey and then as quickly as it had appeared it disappeared, retracting back into Anna's wound leaving her skin clean and untouched as it had been. Sam's piercing hazel eyes caught Dean's, a look of pure fear and panic crossing over his face as he stared at his older brother. He'd seen it too.

"Dean?" Anna's whispered croaky voice broke through the silence as her eyelids fluttered open, "Sam?"

Dean ran his hand along her forehead, brushing some of the hair back from her eyes, "hey, easy there, you're okay."

She tried to focus on Dean's face but her eyelids refused to stay open, her body was scorching hot and as she sucked in a shuddering breath a searing pain rippled through her leg. Something was hugely amiss here and for the first time in what felt like an age, Dean had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do.

Rick gave the two boys a few moments to make sure their friend was okay before clearing his throat loudly and stepping halfway into the room, his voice low and sharp as he spoke; "can I talk to you two? Now."

Dean's hand was still involuntarily brushing the strands of hair off of Anna's face as Sam slowly stood up, his knees shaking and unsteady as he walked towards the cell door. The rest of the new comers had gathered around the cell briefly but when the commotion had calmed down somewhat they had disappeared back into their own groups and cells leaving Rick the Winchesters a precious few others to watch over the scene.

"Now!" Rick's voice echoed across the room as he folded his arms over his chest and glared at Dean, the redneck still had his finger poised on the trigger of his crossbow as he came to stand opposite Rick on the other side of the door. The oldest Winchester's eyes narrowed as he slowly stood up, he didn't like any of this, the sooner Anna got better the sooner they could all be out of there. Sam stood up as Dean walked passed him and followed his brother out into the open walkway of the prison block.

There was a tense silence that followed as the four men stood facing each other in the hallway. Dean's eyes trailed down to where the hunter's finger was still hovering over the trigger on his weapon, "could we maybe try a little less hostility here? Ain't like me and my brother are going to be drawing on anyone any time soon."

A brief pause passed between the two men, Rick's eyes caught his companions and he gave him the most miniscule of nods which made the man automatically remove his finger and almost visibly relax right in that instant. Sam had seen the subtle action as well and for a split second he caught himself thinking how alike he and his brother were.

"Who're you?" Dean asked the other man.

The man's eyebrow cocked and he seemed to size up the newcomers before responding simply, "Daryl."

A heavy air seemed to fall around the four of them, Sam and Rick being the first two to pick up on it, the other two appearing to be more than happy to stand in silence and size each other up. Rick was the one to break the silence.  
"We aren't here to throw you people out," he rested his hands on his hips and looked down at his scuffed and tattered boots, "but I can't have this girl screaming and yelling like this, I can't afford to be scaring the people in this building. We have other, bigger things to be worrying about than nightmares."

Dean was about to open his mouth and undoubtedly say something obnoxious when Sam jumped in instead, "we understand Sir, we do. It's nothing sinister or anything though I can promise you that. She's taken a bad hit to the leg and the pain is incredibly intense without strong medication, I'm sure you can sympathise with that right?"

Rick's eyebrows narrowed a little as he looked the tall man up and down before him and mulled over his answer, "I can, I most definitely can, and we've had our fair share of incidents in the same vein but if it turns into anything other than a wound."

He didn't need to finish his sentence the rest was clear as day. Sam simply nodded in understanding and nudged his brother a little. He didn't want an argument right now, he wanted to check on their friend and he wanted to make damn sure that they still had somewhere to stay, even if it was just for that night. Dean nodded slightly and folded his arms over his chest, he hated people bearing down on his family and this felt like overbearing to the max.

Rick gave Daryl a sideways glance before speaking, "I want Daryl to stay down here near the room tonight…"

"What?!" Sam knew Dean wouldn't stand for that.

"Dean."

"No Sammy, what are we? Ten years old? We can take care of our own we don't need some damned baby sitter here to watch over us and make sure we are doing everything right," his voice was filled with resentment and disdain as he glared at the two men before them. Dean had always been the one to fly off the handle instantly, Sam always had to talk him down but this time, whether it was weariness or sheer lack of concern he wasn't sure but he simply didn't have the energy to talk his brother out of this argument.

"We aren't saying you can't look after your own," Rick said instantly, showing his true policeman negotiation skills, "but we need to make sure that if anything happens we have back up here to make sure that everything is taken care of."

Dean sucked in a deep breath and looked down at his sullied clothing, before raising his stunning green eyes back up to meet the policeman's, "if we need to take care of anything here, believe you me, we've had more than enough practice with this stuff to know what to do to make sure it doesn't spread."

Something in Dean's voice dug into Daryl's head and settled itself into the base of his brain. There was a dejected sort of tone in Dean's voice, a tone Daryl had heard from only one other person in his life. Merle. His brother had always sounded the same, like he had been broken and beaten and subjected to some of the most horrific things that this world had to offer and yet he still stood tall and unrelenting, dragging himself back up to the top. Merle had been absent for so long and had spent so much time either in prison or disappearing off into the middle of nowhere that when he did finally come home he had the same worn out, exhausted look in his eyes but his body language screamed aggravation, anger and the sheer animal instinct to survive, no matter what it took. It was because of Merle, because of all those years he had watched his brother singlehandedly risk everything to make sure Daryl could grow up with a fighting chance that he turned to Rick and said simply, "they're fine. I'm just on top of the stairs anyhow."

It threw Rick for a loop when Daryl had suddenly gone from wanting to shoot these newcomers to all of a sudden being fine to leave them unguarded, but if anyone had a sense of these things it was Daryl. To start with the two men hadn't seen eye to eye on almost anything, but as they had gone on Daryl had proven to be one of the most valuable and trustworthy people Rick had. His decision and his advice had not once lead Rick astray, sometimes his ideas had been a little too aggressive and Rick had to reign him in, but for the most part, he was exactly the kind of advisor that this group needed. He was one of the reasons they were where they were, and he was going to be the reason that they stayed and survived there. The weathered leader seemed to weigh up his options for a moment before finally turning to Daryl and nodding his head, "if you think they're fine then they're fine."

Without so much as another word he gave the two brothers a brief nod and turned on his heel and made his way out of the block. Dean and Sam's inquisitive and stern eyes fell on Daryl who simply met their gaze evenly.

"I'm fine with ya'll being here, I get it. But she starts to turn, she even makes so much as a sound that ain't human, I'm puttin' her down," and with that he turned to leave though hesitated slightly as a pair of huge, brilliant golden brown irises stared at him from the cell door. Anna had managed to claw her way off the bed and had propped herself against the doorframe, her eyes taking in every square inch of the tough looking redneck standing in the moonlight. Sam turned to follow Daryl's gaze and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw Anna leaning painfully against the metal frame of the door.

"Jesus, Anna," he said as he ducked back over to where she was propped and started checking her over, his hands flying to her neck to check her pulse and her temperature. Dean glanced over his shoulder briefly before narrowing his eyebrows and looking back at Daryl, his arms still crossed tightly over his chest. Daryl blinked a few times before giving Dean one final look and headed up the metal stairs to his perch.

Something wasn't right there, Dean couldn't quite put his finger on it but it wasn't right, not bad, just, not right. He made sure Daryl had gone completely up the stairs before letting his arms fall away from his chest and turning back to face the two in the doorway.

"Who's that?" Anna's voice was small in the moonlit room. Dean and Sam exchanged a long glance before Dean finally spoke.

"No one. He's no one."


	3. Thin air

Authors note: As always, thank you all so much for reading and adding this to your favourites and watch lists and everything, I really really do appreciate it and cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see those emails in my inbox.

**Chapter 3 **

Anna had managed to sit up and move around briefly that day, though she was still unsteady and uneasy on her feet. The pain in her leg was searing and burning like crazy but she refused to take any medication for it. As far as she could see her pain was minor and those supplies were few and far between. Hershel had spent some time with her early on, even lending her his crutches until she was able to put more weight on her leg. By the following afternoon Anna was able to amble slowly around the safety of the prison block. Dean and Sam had taken to helping Rick and the others clear out the bodies from the front fences and were slowly working on repairs of walls and different aspects around the prison as well. It was a strange sensation for all three of them, to be able to have the company of other people, to not have to worry about being eaten or attacked or killed at any given second. For once, the three of them were actually capable of just being, no weapons, no threats; no fear.

"You wanna hold her?" Anna jumped a little at the soft voice behind her. She had been so busy watching the two brothers from the doorway that she hadn't noticed the petite blonde girl walking up behind her holding a tiny bundle of baby and blankets in her arms.

"Uh, you mean me?" Anna asked hesitantly. The young girl smiled and came to stand by Anna's side.

"Well yeah, of course," she chuckled as she bobbed up and down gently with the baby, "I'm Beth, by the way, and this little one is Judith."

Children had never really been something that Anna had had much experience with, so when Beth handed over the little girl to her she had no idea what she was meant to be doing let alone how to handle the kid. Yet in that second, she seemed to know exactly what to do, the shooting pain in her leg almost instantly subsiding as she rocked the teeny little child in her arms. Her hands were so tiny and for some reason Anna was mesmerised by how minuscule her little features were, from her teeny little fingernails right to her cute little nose. The whole sick, twisted world seemed to completely dissolve as Judith looked up at her with the most amazing big blue eyes.

Dean and Sam were walking back up into the prison yard with arms full of wood when Dean saw them first, he slowed momentarily as he watched his friend standing in the doorway staring intently at the small baby in her arms. Sam was a few steps behind Dean and nearly walked straight into the back of him as he came to a halt mid step.

"What're you…" Sam stopped short as he followed his brother's gaze up to where Anna was standing. He couldn't stop the smile that crept over his face as he looked between his big brother and the girl they had grown up with. Sam knew as well as anyone else that Anna was never really one for children; she always seemed to get a little uncomfortable and uncertain around young kids, saying that they complicated things more than anything else. In more ways than one her and Dean were almost identical in that area, neither of them could bear the thought of bringing children into this world because it would mean they would be subjected to the terror that they had been doomed to face. None of them wanted that for an innocent baby and as Dean stood there watching Anna with that child Sam noticed something on his brothers face, for a split second it almost seemed like sheer happiness, like there was something that had finally made the untouchable Dean Winchester, have hope. She seemed so happy and completely at ease, almost as if it were second nature to her and as Sam wandered passed his brother with a smirk he nudged him in the shoulder and nodded towards the prison, "come on, let's put that wood away."

Dean shook his head at his brothers' poorly veiled innuendo and followed along after him, finally managing to tear his eyes away from the two in the doorway.

It was quite surprising how well the considerably larger group came together and worked as a unit to make sure that everyone was looked after. The guys had formed groups and some had gone on scouting missions throughout the prison to see if they could find anything of use, while the others set about fixing various fences and areas that needed the work to ensure that the prison was as safe as physically possible. Rick had thrown himself head first into making a veggie patch and the beginnings of a farm for lack of a better word. The women had spent their time doing a number of the more domestic duties; washing, finding food and utensils for cooking with and eating from, keeping an eye on the younger ones, making sure the injured or sick were tended to. The entire group had managed to come up with a schedule so everyone could have the chance to keep a look out whilst the others went about their day. When it started to get dark the whole group came together in the mess hall area to share in the surprisingly tasty soup that had been concocted with the food that was scrounged that day. Anna and Sam had found themselves a small spot against one of the walls in the far corner and were sitting together quietly eating their food, Sam finishing his first before heading outside to the watch tower to give Dean a break to come down and have some dinner.

"Hey," Anna jumped at the voice behind her, turning around as far as she could to see a rather exhausted looking woman with short brown hair, "I'm Maggie."

Anna looked at her intently for a few moments, a scarily striking resemblance to a certain British thief that they had encountered some years ago, "sorry, I don't mean to stare, you just, uh... Never mind, I'm Anna. Nice to meet you."

Maggie gave her a puzzled look before taking a seat next to her on the bench, "I what?"

Anna caught her eye and couldn't help but chuckle a little, "you just remind me of someone that the boys and I met once. Back when things weren't like... Well like this. That's all."

Maggie gave her a weak smile and leaned her head back against the wall, "what's the deal with you guys anyways?"

"What do you mean?" Anna's eyes met with Maggie's and she gave her a confused look. The woman shrugged a little, "you guys just seem..."

"Different?" Anna finished for her a sad smile turning up the edges of her lips. Maggie nodded slowly, her eyes never diverting from the woman's beside her.

Anna stared back down at her bowl of soup, "yeah, you could say that I guess."

There was a sadness in her voice that Maggie hadn't ever heard before, it wasn't like the horrors and the sadness that came with this world, it was almost like this girl and the two boys had seen... More.

"Y'all have seen a lot huh?" Both girls turned to see Daryl leaning against the wall, a bowl resting in one hand as he placed a spoonful of hot liquid in his mouth.

"Anna, this is Daryl," Maggie said after a brief pause, "Daryl, Anna."

Anna's eyes trailed up to meet the shadow covered blue irises of the hunter standing beside them, she gave him a weary smile before returning her attention back to her soup. Her face seemed to get hot all of a sudden, she couldn't quite work out why but for some reason she felt uncomfortable for some reason.

"Yeah, we have seen a lot," her hand hovered over the spoon in the bowl, her golden brown eyes staring intently at the utensils in her fingertips. They had seen more than a lot. All three of them had seen heaven and hell, they'd seen the ends of the earth and beyond and no matter how hard they tried they couldn't escape that life. The three were plagued not just by the walking dead but by angels and demons, ghosts and ghouls and all the horrible things that people can barely dream of.

Dean stopped dead in the hallway just out of his friends field of vision and that of the two that had joined her. Sammy had told him there was food down in the mess hall and the second he heard the word dinner his stomach had started doing flips, he had practically run down to the main area but had stopped short seeing Anna there. Anyone that knew Dean even minutely knew how fiercely protective he was of his baby brother and Anna. They were all the family he had left and he knew it, if anything or anyone hurt them in any way he would spend his entire life hunting them down and killing them. What hurt him most though, more than anything else, was seeing how badly this life had affected the two people he loved. He hated seeing her avoid the question of what they had seen and the pain that only he and Sammy could understand flashing across her eyes. He hated that this life was what joined them, but he also knew without it they wouldn't exist together.

"What kind of stuff?" Maggie pressed a little, "I mean, we've all seen walkers and what they can do and what can happen but you seem like you've seen, I dunno, something else."

Anna stared at her bowl a little longer before setting it down quietly by her side, her appetite diminishing completely as Daryl leaned in a little closer and took another mouthful of soup.

Anna sucked in a deep breath, her eyes focused intently on her hands as she sifted through the horrific memories rolling around in her head before finally settling on something she could hang on to. A memory that she could share, something she could divulge without anyone really knowing the extent of the world she existed in. Dean edged a little closer as quietly as he could, intent on listening to what she was going to say.

"When we were kids," she began, her hands clasping tightly together as she spoke, "we used to have these sort of sleep overs. My Dad and their Dad, John, used to go out hunting and they would leave the boys and me at home."

Daryl shrugged a little, "so? My old man weren't much different."

Anna's eyes finally trailed up to meet his, a sad smile creeping across her face again, "yeah, except they used to move us from state to state depending on what needed hunting. I didn't have friends other than those two boys. We didn't have a life outside of each other. When something went bump in the night in one of our houses, we were given a sawn off shotgun and told to aim straight."

Maggie and Daryl exchanged a brief glance before they looked back at the girl leaning against the wall, she looked back at her hands and shook her head, "so yeah. We've seen a lot."

Dean bit his bottom lip and looked down at the gritty cement beneath his feet. It may not have seemed like a strange story to them, but Dean knew that in amongst all of that they were hunting as well, spending sleepless nights firing rock salt at ghosts that were trying to kill them, they were burning bones and bodies almost constantly. Their lives were not exactly that of a normal children, they didn't know common fairy tales or rhymes, the stories they knew were of ancient soul eating demons and the rhymes were based around Latin that exorcised demonic beasts. Dean was so busy being lost in his own thoughts and memories that he didn't notice the faint fluttering sound of feathers behind him and the trench coat clad figure that appeared behind him out of thin air.

"Dean, we need to talk," Dean jumped and turned around instantly at the low tone from behind him.

Before he had a chance to say anything or even be surprised there was the distinct sound of the safety being removed from a gun and Rick's narrowed, fierce blue eyes met with Dean's before settling on his target as the barrel of his gun pressed against the back of new comers head.

"Who, the _hell _are you?"


End file.
